A Conversation with Tan Yew Kong, Senior Vice President and General Manager, GlobalFoundries Singapore
SSIA: How does receiving this award reflect your company’s commitment to workforce transformation within the semiconductor industry, particularly in the Singaporean context?
Yew Kong: The Workforce Transformation Award (WTA) is testament to our forward-thinking workforce development approaches to building and maintaining a high-performing and engaged workforce. As Singapore makes strides towards its Manufacturing 2030 vision, having a strong talent pipeline is crucial for GlobalFoundries (GF) and the wider manufacturing industry’s long-term growth.
This accolade reinforces our belief that impactful workforce transformation requires job modernization through digital transformation and development initiatives that span every stage of the employee career journey. We have also invested significantly to curate a holistic talent development programme for our employees, whether it is providing more educational sponsorship opportunities at different career stages or partnering with industry and government organisations like SSIA, EDB and IHL to ensure that learning and development initiatives are aligned with market needs.
SSIA: What does the Workforce Transformation Award (WTA) mean to you personally, and how do you see it influencing your future contributions to the semiconductor industry?
Yew Kong: The inaugural WTA is a recognition of the undertaking by GF to curate and continually optimise our holistic workforce development strategy and framework to attract, retain and develop talent.
As GF continues to shape our workforce development and engagement programs to support business growth, we shall continue partnering industry association and government organisations like SSIA, EDB and IHL on national level initiatives, and STEM outreach programs to attract talents into semiconductor industry.
SSIA: Which specific initiatives or strategies have been particularly impactful in the semiconductor sector and contributed to receiving this award?
Yew Kong: Various scholarship programs (including IPP for PhD), Work-Study programs (for Degree and Diploma), STEM outreach programs, and Job modernization through digital transformation are some successful efforts by GF. A notable highlight is our partnership with EDB for our Accelerated Senior Technician Pathway programme. More than 10 technicians from ITE will come onboard for an accelerated development programme that will help them build up a strong foundation in engineering with practical hands-on experience in a world-class semiconductor Fab to pave their career progression within GF. This is just one aspect of GF’s holistic talent development programme that covers every stage of the career journey.
Along with skills development, our commitment to Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Belonging (DEIB) has also been particularly impactful, especially in an industry that is traditionally male-dominated. We have enhanced our performance management and DEI hiring processes to ensure fair recognition of employee contributions. We are proud to have a female representation of 34% across our Singapore workforce, which is significantly higher than the industry average of 20%.
SSIA: How has your company adapted its workforce development strategies to align with both local and global trends in the semiconductor sector?
Yew Kong: Our priority is to build a sustainable pool of workforce for today and tomorrow. With our forward-thinking workforce development approaches, we invest to shape a high-performing and engaged workforce culture that is also Gen-Z inclusive, according to local and global trends and transformation in the sector.
As the expectations of today’s workforce change in tandem with global trends and age groups, we have also been actively reviewing our job scopes and roles to bridge technical skills gaps and enable our workforce greater room to grow in areas of innovation through the use of more advanced solutions. We need to clear up the misconceptions of a dated labour-intensive manufacturing environment. Today’s engineer in the semiconductor industry is no longer just an engineer working with tools in the cleanroom – they can be data scientists using AI & ML solutions to enhance production efficiency or reduce defects; they can also be relying on data in a hub office away from the Fab to monitor tools and use remote access to help troubleshoot issues. Even within the Fab, tool maintenance today can be done very differently through the use of AR/VR with a live support video feed to help engineers cut down time for maintenance.
SSIA: Can you provide examples of how your workforce initiatives have made your organisation more agile and future-ready, especially in Singapore’s competitive landscape?
Yew Kong: The semiconductor industry is highly skills-intensive, and we strive to build a new skills ecosystem for our employees that focus on continuous upskilling, reskilling and cross-skilling. The ecosystem also provides insights into the overall skill health of our workforce, departmental gaps, and the richness of our talent pipeline. Leveraging these insights, we offer various development programmes to address any skill gaps and shorten learning curve with digital solutions, including global mentoring programmes, job shadowing, six months of compulsory On-Job-Training, educational sponsorships, opportunities to attend seminars and conferences, and more.
These also include the development of soft skills that are crucial for a fast-moving, ever-changing industry like ours. For instance, our new e-learning platform, Eskalera, provides employees with convenient access to short videos and reflective activities that promote on-the-go learning. It also offers targeted coaching pathways for leaders to build skills in areas such as unconscious bias, cultural competencies, inclusion, social justice, and equality.
SSIA: How do you view SSIA’s role in driving unity and transformation within the semiconductor sector as we approach 2025 and beyond?
Yew Kong: SSIA plays an important role in fostering global collaboration and galvanising the industry, including local SMEs, to work together on pressing needs like the ongoing talent crunch. A great example is the Career Conversion Programme (CCP) and Job Redesign Reskilling (JRR), where SSIA, Workforce Singapore and partners like GF come together to support these mid-career professionals in their transition. We have been a strong supporter of CCP since 2016, and look forward to collaborating even more closely with SSIA and the ecosystem in 2025 and beyond.
SSIA: What do you see as the most critical areas for workforce development in the semiconductor sector to ensure we remain competitive and relevant?
Yew Kong: The workforce today is very well informed, thanks to internet; and has many career choices. Semiconductor companies need to modernize job roles and scopes through digital transformation to be efficient and attract younger talents to join the industry. We also need to clear up the misconceptions of a dated labour-intensive manufacturing environment. The ability to shorten learning curve with digital solutions will also be key to support industry growth with today’s labour mobility.
GF has a strong focus on digital transformation and is incorporating it to our training program. This is in addition to GF’s internal training and retraining; as well as coaching and mentoring to ensure that our employees acquire the latest skills which they need to perform or excel in their roles. Importantly, industry collaboration and the pursuit of innovation are critical for us to remain competitive and relevant as an industry.
For instance, our continual partnerships with government organisations and industry partners such as NTU, ITE, SSIA and EDB keep our employees’ development aligned with market needs. Through joint Work-Study Degree and Diploma programs, tie-ups with academies such as Republic Polytechnic and ITE; and our STEM outreach activities, we reach out to the younger generation. Likewise, GF’s research and development collaborations with government agencies like A*Star and Institute of Microelectronics involve local universities, keeping us at the forefront of innovation and connecting us with the talent we seek.
SSIA: What message would you like to share with other industry professionals regarding the importance of workforce transformation in the semiconductor sector?
Yew Kong: As our industry continues to evolve amid technological advancements, shifting market dynamics and labour mobility, the need to invest in our people remains the one constant. As Singapore advances toward its Manufacturing 2030 vision, human capital will remain our key competitive advantage. While we have a well-educated and highly skilled workforce, we cannot afford to be complacent. Job modernization of roles and scopes through digital transformation is no longer a good to have. Hence, it is crucial to prioritise upskilling and reskilling efforts, foster a culture of inclusion and diversity within our organisations, as well as keep both professional development and employee well-being at the forefront. By doing so, we will not only attract top talent but also ensure retention for the future.
